SLCC set to approve time limit changes
Dissatisfied clients of legal firms would have three years, rather than just one, to bring a complaint against the firm, under proposals to be put next month to the board of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.
The change was first consulted on in 2014, and discussions have taken place with professional bodies and consumer groups. Alongside it, a shorter time limit would be brought in of six months from the date of conclusion of a first tier investigation by a law firm or advocate.
Announcing the move in the March edition of the SLCC's newsletter for client relations managers, chief executive Neil Stevenson explains that the SLCC felt that its time limits "were unusually short for a consumer complaints body and there were a number of scenarios where complainers, through no fault of their own, could find themselves outside the current limit". However, he adds, the SLCC also wanted those firms and lawyers who are engaging with complaints at first tier "to have some certainty about when a complaint made to the SLCC might be accepted".
Consideration has also been given to whether there would be any impact from changes at an EU level.
Mr Stevenson expects that the changes will take effect on 1 July 2016 and will apply to all work instructed (or conduct or convictions) on or after that date.
The SLCC has also published its second quarterly summary (October-December 2015) of determinations, featuring 17 cases where complaints were upheld in whole or in part, and 20 where they were not upheld. Click here to view.